A greeting card with a note about how she helped you.
Material gifts will get used up and thrown out over time. But she'll collect notes and letters from her students over the years, and they will help remind her why she's teaching.
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A greeting card with a note about how she helped you.
Material gifts will get used up and thrown out over time. But she'll collect notes and letters from her students over the years, and they will help remind her why she's teaching.
This, and if you really really wanna put a monetary gift in there, get them a gift card for coffee(go local fuck Starbucks) or honestly somewhere like target that sells school supplies. It’s a bit orphan crushing machine but they may really appreciate the extra cash for supplies.
Concur. I have every card, note, poster, or coloring page I've ever gotten from a student. (I volunteered with kids younger than OP)
Misspelled words don't matter (I guess maybe if it's your language arts/spelling/writing teacher it would matter a little) because they thought of me and put time, thought, and energy into a gift for me instead of making a tiktok or whatever.
I got fired from my job, and while I was cleaning out my locker I found a folder in the back of my locker.
It had a note from an old lady I helped once. She wrote a whole note about how nice it was to work with me.
The other thing was a hand-drawn card from a coworker’s daughter, proclaiming me as her friend forever.
I also had a big stack of gift cards the company had given me to show their appreciation, and I just took them so I’d have food. I don’t feel the slightest bit of meaning from those gift cards.
Honestly an email from my boss saying “Hey good job on X” would have gone so much further than those gift cards.
This. I'm a teacher, and I have about a thousand gift mugs stuck in a closet, but I will hang on to that raggedy half torn post it note that says, "Thank you Mr. [Name] for helping me :)" literally until the day I die.
In my desk, I have a special folder full of notes from students that I look at when I have a bad day.
We don't do it for the money, we do it to help you have a better life. So when students tell us we helped, the feeling is incredible.
If you want to make sure it doesn't get mistaken for romantic feelings, just think, "Would I feel weird saying this to my Aunt/Uncle?" while writing it.
Some potential sentence starters:
What I appreciated most about being in your class was...
One time you really helped me was when...
Something you really helped me understand was...
The one thing you should never stop doing in class is...
Whatever you write, your teacher will love it :)
As a teacher, just a letter or card saying how they impacted you is enough.
Not a teacher (but I work with people that sometimes want to give me gifts when we say goodbye) and I agree, card or a letter is great!
Either that or something I can share with my colleagues (chocolate, assorted sweets).
Fellow teacher here, I concur. I've never gotten a physical gift from a student, and I don't think I'd be comfortable with it.
A card would be weird too, but better by several powers of magnitude than an actual gift. And perfume? WTF my dude?
“There’s no way perfume could be construed as romantic!”
@fastandcurious don't give anyone perfume/cologne unless you know them well enough to know what they wear.
A card that has something meaningful about their teaching written in it.
Since she's early career, give written feedback to the school about what a great teacher she is.
A heartfelt, handwritten thank-you letter telling them they're a great teacher and how they positively impacted your life.
I don't think you have to worry too much. A classic gift of a vibrator should probably get your point across and not get misinterpreted.
(Sorry, I had to, I know I'm dumb)
A fountain pen or a nice moleskin notebook with a note saying how her lessons will help you in your future life.
I think a perfume is too personal and might come out as a romantic gesture (and difficult to choose if you don't know what she likes anyway).
A nice fountain pen seems like a good idea, Thanks!
As a fountain pen user, I would suggest against that unless you know it suits her personality. Fountains pens require maintenance, and certainly it's easy maintenance, but it's definitely more work than a ballpoint. They are a hobby, and if it's is not her thing, she'll never use it.
I would instead recommend a nice ballpoint pen set where the ink can be replaced when empty. Something she can use without having to think about or maintaining it.
One thing I haven’t seen yet: if you can, loop your parent(s) in on this. They know the situation better than the Internet does, and if someone tries to turn the situation into something weird, they should have your back. And they’ve got some life experience to help you with your note.
Damn, that's good advice.
However the sarcastic side of me is looking forward to the next post in a months time when they ignored this, etc...
"How do I propose to my old teacher?" And so on
Lmao at the perfume and chocolates. You somehow beelined to the most Valentines related gifts possible.
The suggestion for a letter or card saying how much they helped you is the best idea. If you don’t feel up to writing, then think about a professional gift, like a fancy pen or something to sit on their desk. Don’t spend a lot of money, that makes it weird. Less than $30.
I’m so glad we had this talk at this stage of your life before you gave your first boss a fine bottle of perfume and then had a bewildering conversation with HR, lol.
Unless you’re living in a horny anime I don’t think you have much to worry about with what they think. However, don’t give your teacher perfume—that’s insane and inappropriate for anyone outside of a romantic partner / close friend.
Write them a thank-you note and get them a Starbucks gift card.
As a former teacher, I'd never consider something a student bought me as a romantic gift, that's just not a thing. Chocolates are nice, but echoing what someone else said, a nice card with a message is really special. I still have every thank you card my students ever gave me, and I once printed out an email a student sent me when they got their first job to keep. It just gives you fuzzy feelings to think you may have been helpful.
As a teacher, I treasure all of the heart-felt notes and letters students have left me over the years. If you want to give something that shows them how important they are to you, write them a letter.
A thank you card and a gift certificate for food. Everybody needs food.
As another poster suggested: muffins and a nice card go a long way. Especially since few students show appreciation anyway. She’ll definitely appreciate the card and gesture more than any particular gift that you might include.
And definitely don’t do perfume. It’s difficult enough to shop for yourself, much less for others. Just don’t.
Edible underwear
“I’d totally chew these right off your pelvis if you weren’t my teacher. Now that I’m graduating, I want you to know you had a great impact on me. I often think about you at night. No homo”
Gift certificate. That's something that can NEVER be mistaken for romance.
a genuine card and a gift card to a nice restaurant. or maybe a wine voucher
We had a wonderful English teacher in our college. And on the last day many students gave her some gifts. If I remember correctly, we gave a small bamboo plant that sits on a table, some squishy smiley balls aka stress balls, a custom printed tshirt, a book, and maybe a mug too.
A card with a well-written note would be the best. Take time thinking about the tiny things she did that meant a lot to you.
so chocolates wouldn't necessarily be romantic unless they were... you know... romantic. Like. valentines heart boxes would be a no go. But something like a box of See's Assortment or Lindt's truffles, etc, are pretty impersonal.
A note and some trinket or candy or baked goods is probably the way to go. It doesn't have to be academic-related, for, he record. if you got to know her really well, and maybe she liked... I dunno... legos... a lego minifig key chain, as an example.
I'd just stay away from apples. Kinda cliche. And the perfume. Stay away from the perfume! that would be worse than the chocolates (not least because it's usually ridiculously expensive. Also incredibly hard to guess what kind of perfume some one might like.)
I'd also suggest that flowers are too easily misinterpreted, as well.
I teach younger ages but my favourite things are cards or artwork that the kids have made. I find the intention and effort behind them most rewarding.
Other than that I don’t mind a good gift card.
Hate chocolate and mugs, I have so much uneaten chocolate and so many mugs I don’t use. But I’m not a big chocolate person anyway, so my preference there may not match others.
If she’s still young like you said, she probably hasn’t gotten that many notes of appreciation so for sure add one along with whatever you give as the emotional support they provide gets you through shit days knowing that your sacrifice is valued.
How about just an email. Keep it profesh.
If you know something she's interested in, try giving her a related gift. For instance, one of my professors really loved Chess, and ran a chess club at my college. I got him a Arimaa board, which is a different game based off of chess.
I'd argue that there's not much worse than someone buying you something to do with your hobbies.
In my experience it's always something you don't want, or already have
There are certainly worse things than a thoughtful, potentially redundant gift related to something you care about.
As a teacher, I'd say a card as someone already suggested, or a book with a thank you inscription
In my culture It'd be the other way around. Perfume could be romantic or mean 'you smell'. Chocolade, self-made cake of muffins would be alright. Or something individual, a drawing if you can do it, a nice 3d print or whatever creative hobbies you have. Yeah and somebody said a book. Lots of teachers like to read, and you know what stuff they're interested in... It's probably what they chose to teach. Or just say thank you, you helped me a lot and influenced my life for the better.... You could also instead write it down on a nice card.